1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ice maker used in a refrigerator, and particularly, to a system and a method for controlling ice size in the ice maker which are able to control a size of ice and to display the size of ice visually.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, an ice maker which is installed additionally in a freezing device and a cooling device is a device for making ices using a cooling cycle disposed in the freezing or cooling device.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional ice maker from upper part, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the conventional ice maker from lower part.
The ice maker according to the conventional art comprises: an ice making vessel 102 having a plurality of cavities and mounted on a certain position where the cool air of the refrigerator can be supplied; an ejector 104 mounted on an upper side of the ice making vessel 102 to be rotatable for separating the ices on the ice making vessel 102 and moving the ices to a storage vessel (not shown); a heater 106 installed on a lower side of the ice making vessel 102 for heating the ice making vessel in order to separate the ices frozen on the ice making vessel 102 easily; and a adjusting dial 108 installed on one side of the ice making vessel 102 for adjusting amount of water supplied to the ice making vessel 102.
In addition, a detecting lever 110 installed on one side of the ice making vessel 102 for turning off the operation of ice maker when the storage vessel is full of ices, a water supply tube 112 for supplying water into the ice making vessel 102, and a water supply valve 114 installed on one side of the water supply tube 112 for supplying or blocking the water into the ice making vessel by opening/closing the water supply tube 112.
Operations of the ice maker for refrigerator according to the conventional art will be described as follows.
When the water filled in the respective cavities of the ice making vessel 102 is frozen by the cool air supplied from the cooling system, the heater 106 is operated to heat the ice making vessel so that the ices on the ice making vessel 102 can be separated easily. After that, the ejector 104 is operated to move the ices frozen in the ice making vessel 102 to the storage vessel.
And than, when the water supply valve 114 is opened, the water is supplied to the ice making vessel 102 through the water supply tube 112. At that time, when a user selects desired ice size by rotating the adjusting dial 108, the opening time of the water supply valve 114 is adjusted to adjust the amount of water supplied to the ice making vessel 102, and thereby adjusting the ice size.
However, in the ice maker according to the conventional art constructed and operated as above, since the user adjusts the water supply amount by rotating the adjusting dial 108, it is difficult to control the water amount supplied to the ice making vessel precisely. Also, the user is not able to identify the amount of water supplied to the ice making vessel, and therefore it is difficult to make the ice size as the user wants.
Also, in case that water pressure is different from locations where the ice maker is installed, the size of ices is variable according to the installed location when the water supply time is set to be constant. Therefore, to solve the above problem, as another example of water supply controlling device, a system for maintaining the size of ices frozen in the ice making vessel constantly by adjusting water supplying time according to the water pressure is used presently.
However, in case of above water supply controlling device, the user is not able to control the size of ices selectively, although the size of ice can be maintained constantly.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method for controlling ice size in an ice maker by which size of ice can be controlled in a simple way as a user wants, and the size can be identified visually to control the ice size in detail.
To achieve the object of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a system for controlling ice size of an ice maker comprising: an ice size controlling means for controlling a size of ice which will be frozen on an ice maker; an ice size displaying means for displaying the ice size controlled by the ice size controlling means visually so that a user can identify; and a controlling means for controlling the ice size displaying means according to a signal applied from the ice size controlling means and for controlling an amount of water supplied to an ice making vessel.
The ice size controlling means is installed on a front surface of the ice maker, and formed as a push button which controls the size of ice according to the number of times pushed by the user.
The ice size displaying means is disposed on the front surface of the ice maker, and comprises a plurality of display devices lighted sequentially according to the number of pushing times.
A light emitting display (LED) is used as the display device.
The controlling means comprises a control unit for lighting the display devices gradually by recognizing the number of pushing times to light and for controlling the amount of water supplied to the ice making vessel by controlling opening time of the water supply valve.
The control unit includes a timer for counting opening time of the water supply valve according to the number of pushing times of the push button.
There is provided a method for controlling ice size in an ice maker according to the present invention comprises: a first step for choosing ice size when the ice maker is operated; a second step for displaying the ice size visually when the ice size is selected; a third step for setting and storing water supply time corresponding to the selected ice size; a fourth step for supplying water to the ice making vessel and deciding whether or not the set time is reached, when the supplying time is set in the third step; and a fifth step for stopping water supply and starting freezing operation when the water supplying time reaches to the set time in the fourth step.
In the first step, the size of ice is gradually increased as the user pushes the push button.
In the second step, a plurality of display devices are lighted gradually as the size of ice is increased so that the user can identify the size of ice visually.
In the fourth step, when the set time is reached by counting the time from the time point when the water supply valve which opens/closes the water supply tube is opened, the water supply is blocked by closing the water supply valve, and after that the freezing operation is performed.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.